Twitch.



E. WURMNEST.

TWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I3. 191s.

l ,21 4,25 .I Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

in; minms ng-R: ea.. pnamuma. Hummm". u. I.,

EMIL W'URMNEIS'IL,l 0F NORTON, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented i an. En', iil,

Application filed uly 13, 1815. Serial No. 39,671.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, EMIL WURMNEST, citizen of the United States, residing at Morton, in the county of rlazewell and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in rl`witches; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exa ct description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in twitches.

The object of the invention is to furnish a. twitch for holding refractory animals such as horses, or for use as an assistance in holding them while being treated or operated upon by attaching the same to the upper lip, the same requiring merely to be tightened upon the lip and there left without attention by a special attendant.

A further and important object is to furnish a simple form of device having two clamping members or jaws, the clamping faces of which are irregular in outline or irregularly curved so as to provide a more extended surface than would be possible otherwise and whereby the device will be more firmly held upon the animals lip.

Another object is to provide a twitch of a structure in which all danger of breaking the skin of the animals mouth will be avoided and which by its peculiar structure will not be likely to slip and cut or injure the flesh in any way.

To the end that the invention may be readily understood, l have provided the accompanying drawing which shows the construction of my improved twitch and in which,

Figure l is an elevation of the twitch; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of parts of the same on line @fz-fe; and, Fig. 3 is a modified form of two associated portions of the in vention.

ri represents a U-shaped member whose ends are preferably reduced in diameter as at B, forming shoulders C, the reduced eX- tensions passing into and through a cross piece D, the ends B being upset or riveted as indicated at E to secure all in firm relation, said cross piece D bearing against the shoulders C.

The member D is provided centrally with an enlargement F having a long threaded bore G,

H is a thumb-screw the threads of which are of a steep pitch whereby a quick action of said thumb-screw will result.

J is a jaw in which the end of the thumbscrew is suitably swiveled, there being an enlargement K on the end of the latter and al reduced portion L on the screw leaving a shoulder M on said thumb-screw so that the jaw will be moved positively in either direction in the turn of the screw. Said jaw J is provided at its ends with holes ll, or open slots if desired, to receive the arms of the U- shaped member the parts being thus assembled before the cross piece l) is secured to the U-shaped member. The inner face of the U-shaped member fr which constitutes a jaw and that of the jaw J are provided with irregular complementary faces, that is to say, the clamping surface of A. is provided with a series of rounded extensions O and intermediate them are depressions l). The jaw J is provided with similar projeo tions Q and depressions R so arranged with respect to those of the member it that its extensions lie aopposite the depressions of said member while its depressions will lie opposite the extensions of that member in a complementary fashion.

The surfaces of the jaws thus constructed are all rounded as the two figures indicate. Furthermore the curves of the jaw .l terminate at the inner surfaces of the parallel extensions of the U-shaped member A, substantially as shown, but they may extend beyond said surfaces, if desired, as shown in Fig. 3. The purpose of this is that there will be a rounded corner er cavity at the ends of the jaws with no sharp corners or surfaces of any nature that would be likely to pinch and break the skin of the mouth.

It is clear that all of the surfaces which aid in clamping are rounded and smooth so that no injury of this nature can occur, this being the important feature of my invention in connection with the extended surfaces due to the extensions and depressions of the jaws and their ability to better grasp the lip with a firm hold and the consequent less likelihood of slipping. Furthermore, the several extensions of the two jaws add to the pinching eect so that while the animal is more l'ully aware of the pinch upon the lip the pressure is distributed across the lip and notv in any one place as in some of the older forms which are more likely, due to their form, to break the slin'and draw the blood.

lthreaded ene-agement With said cross bar and a secondary j aw ineniber having a swiveled engagement with said screw and a slidable engagement With said parallel extensions, said primary and secondary jaws being substantially parallel to each other and having o-n their adjacent faces comple inentary rounded projections and depressions, tlie surface of each end of said secondary jaw adjacent said extensions termihating,` substantially at the crest of a rounded projection andbeing coved adjacent each of said extensions to conform with the contour ofvsaid extensions, whereby in the parallel movement of said jaws any object engaged between said jaws will not be pinched between said secondary jaw and said parallel extensions.

.ln testimony Whereoi1 l alix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

EMIL wl/VURMNEST Witnesses L. O. EAeLnToN, WVM. l). WURMNnsT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

